Hi and happy dreary Saturday to you….raining and cool here. Great day to stay in and be productive! I have a lot of work to take care of and my closet rehaul is underway and let’s just say it is a major work in progress. If I don’t take things like that in batches, it is a lost cause. So batch 1 is underway…

Last night we had 4 of our favorite couples over for a dinner and movie night. It was casual but such fun. I know many of you like when I share pictures of when I entertain so thought this would make a great spontaneous Saturday post.

I, as of about 9 days have been on a diet (and my husband is along for the ride though I am not sure that his eating an ice cream cookie sandwich last night qualifies). My least favorite thing in the world to do but after that first pair of pants feels just a little looser….well thats all the validation and motivation I need to keep on truckin:)

The first few days are admittedly very very hard, and having to break up with my beloved crusty bread, say my final farewell to pasta and cheese…well that is never easy.  I am getting sidetracked here, back to last night! I kept everything very healthy (except for dessert)  and basically had my guests join me on my diet without even knowing it:) Mediterranean all the way…..one of my favorite types of foods. And here is how it all went down…

 

Prep- Started with  a healthy Mediterranean inspired spread which included the chopped salad I make all the time (6 cucumbers, about 14 small tomatoes, 1 large red onion, 3 TBSP fresh mint, lots of lime juice, about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup red wine vinegar) a little salt and pepper.  Chop and mix all ingredients, soooo good and very healthy! Here it is being made-

Getting my items ready for the movie room…a huge bowl of popchips (guilt free but truly tastes like popcorn) a small tiered server of Skinny Cow chocolates (great when you want to give into a craving for chocolate) and for those who want to be bad- a bowl of minis of the all times faves, and a bucket filled with beverages….

I LOVE my new three tiered wooden server (on my shop click here)  what a great piece! I think I will be using it all summer long…amazing for any kind of spread and I like that it’s an all in one serving piece, no platters, bowls,etc…in this case I made a Mediterranean inspired spread which included humus, spicy feta, eggplant spread and a mix of olives. On top were assorted vegetables and on bottom half pita bread wedges and half Stacy’s pita chips….

All the top ingredients getting ready to be used-

And the assembly begins….

Add the spreads to my darling Juliska bowls-

And voila!

We held this get together in our newly finished lower level (not calling it a basement) I love this space and seriously think I could live down there….call it a lady cave:) It is a really great space with high ceilings and natural sunlight so it does not feel at all like a basement, we have the movie room next door which is awfully convenient- (if you missed my post on finishing our lower level, click on part 1 here and part 2 here)

The lower level is the perfect place to use my chinoiseie “looks like china” melamine...no one can believe they are melamine!

I have a few beverage tubs that I like to fill with drinks and ice…always looks pretty (was from an old vendor but they do not make this anymore)

One of my favorite drinks plus its light! Take one part light dry Rose wine, one part Pellegrino and one part Apricot/Peach sparkling (0 calories) mix together and add a little ice…makes such a delicious, light and refreshing drink plus its pretty:) I like putting it in a beverage dispenser, extra points for presentation!

Spruced up the powder room with my favorite Antica Farmacista products, an orchid and a monogrammed towel

Dinner is served…have a GREAT Persian restaurant near our house which serves the best kebobs…. did a combination of two types of steaks, fish and chicken with 2 types of rice and my salad…yum!

And so happy my friend got these pics below with her phone…..these are easy and always a huge hit. Oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwiches….I used to bake the cookies but rarely do anymore. Just get a soft good sized oatmeal cookie, I wrapped up about 14 of them in aluminum, put them in an oven for about 15 min on low (a little secret) Earlier in the day I got a large tub of Haagen Daaz vanilla ice cream (if you are going to have ice cream you need to go all the way)!

Let it thaw and spread it out onto a large pyrex or simliar dish. Put back in freezer. When ready to assemble the sandwiches, take a round cookie cutter, cut out “circles” of ice cream, place between two cookies and voila you have yourself a mighty tasty dessert (and easy to eat)….suffice to say there was not one left (but I was good and pretended my carrot stick was an oatmeal ice cream cookie (which let’s be real…there is no comparison).

And at this point we moved onto the movie room to watch a movie, a new release that a friend brought over and  obviously none of us had seen. I cannot say I would  necessarily recommend The Adderall Diaries, it was interesting but dark and somewhat twisted (unless you like that genre,  I prefer light,pretty movies lol)!

Great cast though- James Franco, Ed Harris, Christian Slater and Amber Heard. And that my friends was a wrap….by around 11:30 the movie was over and off I went for a much  needed nights rest:)

Thanks for stopping by, wishing you a wonderful day. Until next time……

PS Don’t forget to take my readers poll and enter your name for 2 giveaways (winners to be announced tomorrow, click here to enter) and all chinoiserie tole is 20% off until tomorrow night! Click here to visit